Brought up by a history teacher in the Roman city of Bath, I think there was always a part of me destined to live in the past. My passion for all things ancient stretches back many years. As a small child I remember grubbing about in the vegetable patches in the garden and feeling oh so excited when I found a bit of broken pottery or a small animal bone. I thought they were something special and might be really old and valuable.

I also had a particularly formative experience at the age of about 12; whilst visiting family in Rochdale for a cousin's christening, my mum took me to the Manchester Museum to see the exhibition for the then-recently discovered Lindow Man. Although I enjoyed the whole exhibition, I was fascinated by the Lindow Man himself (or 'Pete Marsh', as he's affectionately known): the detail in his face and hands, and that I was mere inches away, looking directly into a face from our past.

During that same visit to the museum, we took a stroll around the Egyptology gallery. There was a partially wrapped mummy in its sarcophagus, and again, I thought it was just the coolest thing and really wanted to know what the rest of the person looked like. And that's when the passion for Egyptology kicked in.

In 2001, I finally plucked up the courage to up-sticks and move 200 miles away to Liverpool to start my degree in Egyptology. A year after graduating I went back to study for my Masters, and have been in Liverpool ever since.

I now have my wonderful other half and two brilliant little girls, who are also already catching the Egyptology bug.

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